Folding stool



Aug. 16, 1966 o. H. COMES FOLDING STOOL Fil-ed Aug. 24, 1964 07/5 H. coMas I NVEN TOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,266,839 FOLDING STOOL Otis H. Combs, 2913 NW. 26th St., Fort Worth, Tex. Filed Aug. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 391,613 3 Claims. (Cl. 29757) This invention relates to folding seats and has reference to improvements in that type of body support in which a folding stool is combined with a walking cane. Such seats are convenient to carry and provide a readily available stool at places where seating facilities are usually lacking, for example, when camping or fishing, at parades and sporting events.

Such stools should be light weight, but at the same time they must be strong enough to serve their intended purpose. Although folding stools, including canes as third legs, have been made or proposed heretofore, they all had crossed legs which placed bending loads thereon.

An object of the present invention is to provide, in a combined walking cane and folding stool, a construction wherein at least two legs lie in a vertical plane so as to lessen bending loads on all legs when the stool is in use.

Another object is to provide a combined folding stool and walking cane having few parts for economy of construction.

A further object is to provide a combined stool and cane wherein the handle of the cane may be rotated 180 relative to the seat; thus, the seat may be positioned away from the body when folded and carried by the user, depending on whether the .user is right handed or left handed.

These and other objects will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a combined stool and cane according to the invention and showing, in phantom, a user seated thereon.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the invention in its unfolded or seat position.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view taken at a right angle with reference to FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the invention in its folded or carrying position.

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view taken at a right angle with reference to FIGURE 4, and

FIGURE 6 is a bottom plan view of the seat with the legs and cane removed.

In the drawing, the numeral 10 designates a circular :seat, but which seat may be of any suitable configuration, for example, triangular or square, not shown. Near the diameter of the seat, and in alignment with each other, there are two hinges 11 equally spaced from opposite edges of the seat, and which hinges connect with oppositely bowed, but slightly spaced apart, legs 12 at their upper ends and on corresponding sides thereof. As best shown in FIGURE 2, the upper ends of the legs 12 make perpendicular flat abutting contact with the bottom of the seat 10. The third leg of the stool is a walking cane 13 which is pivotally connected between the two legs 12 by a hinge pin 14. The handle 15 of the cane 13 is parallel with the plane of the legs 12 when the stool is in its folded position, FIGURES 4 and 5, and the lower end 16 of the cane projects below the legs as shown in these views.

Perpendicular to the diameter defined by the hinges 11 and beginning at the center therebetween, there is a slot 17 in the seat 10 which extends to the seats periphery. In its folded position a length of the cane 13 is received in the slot 17, and in its unfolded position a portion of the cane traverses the slot but is retained therein by a transverse slide bar 18 on the bottom of the seat 10 near the periphery thereof. A stop 19 in the form of a projecting screw in the cane 13 makes contact with the slide bar 18 when the stool is unfolded.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the user sits on the seat 10 straddle of the cane 13. The handle 15 of the cane 13 provides a hand rest, and the other end 16 of the cane provides balancing means. Because the lower end 16 of the cane 13 projects below the lower end of the legs 12 when the stool is folded, the described construction can be used as a walking cane. Transverse metal straps 20 are connected across the legs 12 between the lower ends thereof and the hinge pin 14, and on the sides of the legs opposite the hinges 11.

The invention is not limited to the exemplary construction herein shown and described, but may be made in various ways within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A folding stool comprising: a seat, a slot in said seat extending from substantially the center thereof to the seat periphery, hinges on the bottom of said seat on opposite sides of the inner end of said slot, bowed legs connected with said hinges, the arcs of said legs being arranged to nearly touch each other, a walking cane pivotally connected between said legs and extending through said slot, a slide bar across said slot at the periphery of said seat, and a stop on said cane positioned to engage said slide bar when the defined construction is in its unfolded position.

2. In a folding stool as defined in claim 1, the construction wherein the ends of said legs adjacent said hinges make perpendicular abutting contact with the bottom of said seat when the stool is in its unfolded position.

3. A folding stool as defined in claim 1, and wherein said cane includes a laterally projecting handle, said handle being parallel with the plane defined by said legs when the stool is in its folded position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 538,266 4/1895 Mills 108121 2,002,118 5/1935 Johnson 29757 2,133,047 10/ 1938 Sheldon 29755 2,649,140 8/1953 Housel 29757 X 3,045,660 7/1962 Manley et al. 248156 X FOREIGN PATENTS 848,411 2/1938 France.

948,984 2/ 1949 France.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

J. T. MCCALL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FOLDING STOOL COMPRISING: A SEAT, A SLOT IN SAID SEAT EXTENDING FROM SUBSTANTIALLY THE CENTER THEREOF TO THE SEAT PERIPHERY, HINGES ON THE BOTTOM OF SAID SEAT ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE INNER END OF SAID SLOT, BOWED LEGS CONNECTED WITH SAID HINGES, THE ARCS OF SAID LEGS BEING ARRANGED TO NEARLY TOUCH EACH OTHER, A WALKING CANE PIVOTALLY CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID LEGS AND EXTENDING THROUGH SAID SLOT, A SLIDE BAR ACROSS SAID SLOT AT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID SEAT, AND A STOP ON SAID CANE POSITIONED TO ENGAGE SAID SLIDE BAR WHEN THE DEFINED CONSTRUCTION IS IN ITS UNFOLDED POSITION. 